I am thrilled, over the moon, to announce that I'm going back to the Seattle Erotic Art Festival!

For context, read my post from a few weeks ago... tl;dr, I had photos accepted in the Festival five years in a row, but the last three years have drawn a blank. So it was with great trepidation that I looked up the results this weekend, to discover that I have three photos accepted for exhibition (out of ten entered). And three photos that I'm very proud of, too! Of course, yes, I only submitted photos that I'm very proud of, so that follows. But I'm especially happy that the photo of Lior Allay was accepted, because it's one that I find personally very compelling, but which hasn't done as well as I'd have liked it to in other exhibition entries.

Anyway, here are the details: the Festival runs from April 21 to April 23, 2023, and you can find all of the details, including ticket sales, at seattleerotic.org. The Festival will have lots of great visual art on display and for sale, as well as interactive art, literary art, erotic films, performances, and participatory events. The attendees are really part of the exhibit, too, as they often show up in full fetishwear. It's a sensory feast, and you can go home with my art!

Here are my three accepted pieces, along with the brief narrative that will accompany each of them. I'm experimenting with making my art more personal and unique -- a longer version of these narratives will be attached to the back of each matted and framed photograph, with my artist's signature. Hopefully that will help them sell -- and I like that it'll add some depth and context to the pieces regardless.

Proof: ACCEPTED
Proof
For a non-binary individual like Lior Allay, photographed at Freeway Park in Seattle in March 2019, gender and identity are in constant tension with cultural expectations. Clothing, hair, body structure and society’s ever-present obsession with genitalia all play a role. Here, we cheekily ask, who do YOU say I am? And what do you ask for, as proof?

Gothic Sundial: ACCEPTED
Gothic Sundial
It’s time to stop limiting the definition of “beauty” to blonde hair and svelte bodies. It’s time to be inclusive in our definition of human sensuality. There is so much to celebrate! It’s time to embrace our full potential as sensual beings. I photographed Psychopomp in Seattle in October 2012.

Rest and Upheaval: ACCEPTEDRest and Upheaval
6I8A5363 (09-17-2020)
07-31-2018
Rialto Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington

2021-05-02 Pirin Salon (Razlog, Bulgaria) (Nude PIDC): Accepted
2021-05-29 MTN Photo Salon (Kolkota, India) (Nude PIDM): Judge's Choice
2021-06-30 Marika Magazine (published in Toronto, Canada) (Summer 2021): Published
2021-07-02 Hilliard Gallery (Kansas City, Missoiuri), "14th Annual Contemporary Figurative Show": Exhibited
2021-07-05 Moscow International Foto Awards (online contest based in Moscow, Russia) (Amateur Nude), as part of a 7-photo series titled "Rest and Upheaval": Honorable Mention
2021-07-30 3 Square Art Gallery (Fort Collins, Colorado), "Figure That!": Exhibited with a Gold Award
2021-10-15 Kladovo Summer Circuit (Cuprija and Kladovo, Serbia; Vidin, Bulgaria) (Nude Mono PIDM): Accepted; Salon Gold (Cuprija)
2021-11-20 Shadowhunter Circuit (Serbia, Croatia, Malta, and Montenegro) (Nude PID): Accepted; Salon Silver (Croatia); Salon Ribbon (Serbia); DIPA Diploma (Montenegro)
2021-11-29 Clickerz International Salon (Kolkata, India) (Nude PIDC): Certificate of Merit
2021-11-30 Photo Fest Bitola (Bitola, Macedonia) (Nude PIDC): IAAP Bronze Medal
Rest and Upheaval
To be human is to live amid contrast and contradiction. We strive for restful calm; yet the world is filled with chaos and turmoil. But waves and tide can, in time, smooth sharp edges into polished stone. Nature both threatens and sustains us, and we find balance in the center of the storm. I photographed Queen Dandelion at Rialto Beach, July 2018.